Solid fuel cook stoves have been known for many years and arc widely used today when camping or otherwise cooking out-of-doors. These stoves provide the user with a certain amount of enjoyment and provide the food with a unique char-broiled taste. Outdoor stoves most often take the form of a kettle grill, an appliance which includes a cupped, upwardly-facing chamber for containing a solid fuel such as charcoal briquettes. The fuel is held beneath a cooking grate, food being placed directly on the grate and cooked after ignition of the fuel below.
Although popular, most outdoor cook stoves have proven to be extremely limited in their usefulness do to the many methods of cooking which are not accommodated thereby. Conventional outdoor cook stoves, for example, are generally intended only for char-broiling meat which is placed directly on the cooking grate. Although utensils such as pots or pans may be placed on the cooking grate, it generally is not possible to direct heat toward the utensil without substantial loss of energy to the surrounding air. This lack of control may result in undesirable heating of the utensil's handle, possibly damaging the utensil and likely making it difficult to grasp.
Known stoves also have demonstrated problems related to fuel ignition, and to maintenance and control of flames once the fuel begins to burn. These problems are closely related to the inadequate ventilation of most outdoor stoves and to the inability of such stoves to adapt to varying environmental conditions such as increased or gusting winds. This lack of ventilation results in less efficient burning of fuel, complicating control of the heat produced, and leading to the contamination of the food by smoke which contains unburned fuel or the like. Such food contamination is exacerbated where a liquid catalyst such as conventional lighter fluid is used to help start the flame.
One solution to fuel ignition difficulties has been to use a separate appliance to facilitate ignition of the fuel. These appliances (referred to herein as fuel ignitors) are generally adapted to accommodate the flow of a large volume of air, such flow being directed through the solid fuel which is to be burned. After the fuel is ignited, it is transferred to a separate appliance wherein food is cooked. Although fuel ignition is facilitated by such appliances, this solution does not address problems related to the maintenance and control of the fire once the fuel is transferred to the cook stove. Also, the use of a separate appliance for igniting fuel detracts from the portability of the stove, an important feature to many of those who use such stoves.
Conventional outdoor stoves also present problems related to heat regulation, it being difficult to accurately define an area in which items may be kept warm. Commonly, cooked items are placed about the perimeter of the cooking grate, the perimeter presumably receiving less heat than the center which often overlies the bulk of the fuel. This arrangement, however, is ineffective inasmuch as most conventional stoves experience periodic flame flare-ups due to grease falling onto the burning fuel. Such flare-ups often lead to burned or charred food.